


Coincidence

by isurahikari



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Highschoolstuck, Humanstuck, I'm not adding all the characters, Multi, So yeah, all that jazz, i'm planning for it to be like...everyone., yeah no way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-23 05:03:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2535173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isurahikari/pseuds/isurahikari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an ordinary highschool, a multitude of homestuck characters have angsty teenage moments and everybody is connected, even if they don't know it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The way people talk about confidence, you'd think it was easy to achieve. 'Just believe in yourself, and it'll all be okay', that's what was commonly said. Personally, Tavros didn't think it quite worked like that, or maybe the  _believing in yourself_ ability was something he didn't have yet. He liked to imagine that one day he'd wake up and suddenly 'believe in himself', like he'd leveled up overnight, but life wasn't a game, and people didn't unlock new abilities overnight. Tavros was stuck where he was.

Maybe it would be easier, if only he didn't have The Bully. Vriska Serket, he often thought, was like a final boss that he encountered much too early. In a way, he admired her. You had to be extremely confident to insult people like Vriska did. Or maybe she was moderately confident and he was just really easy to insult. He did have an awful amount of things to make fun of; His stunted growth, his stutter, his wheelchair. Being born paralyzed wasn't exactly the best thing that could have happened to him, but there could have been worse things, right? His uncle, a soft spoken and small guy just like him, was really nice, so that definitely could have been worse. They lived in a decent house and had food and were warm, so that was good too. Tavros should be _grateful,_ not resentful!

But still...he couldn't help wishing he had working legs. It  _would_ make self-esteem easier to obtain.

"Tavros?" Aradia asked, making him jump in surprise. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay...Um, hi..." He said hesitantly. He and Aradia Megido had bonded over their mutual love of games, both tabletop, online, and even cards sometimes, back in middle school. In fact, they were even part of a gaming club at their high school, which, unfortunately for Tavros, included Vriska and her semi-intimidating friend, Terezi Pyrope. Terezi was handicapped too, blind, but not like Tavros. Terezi didn't take shit from  _anybody,_ another quality that he greatly admired, but didn't have.

"I have a feeling," Aradia stated, "That something will happen today. Something  _new._ "

"New?" Tavros questioned. Aradia's 'feelings' were never wrong, and were often a little ominous and spooky. Then again, so was she. "What do you mean?"

"You know I don't know," She frowned, "I only get  _feelings._ But it will be...interesting."

He shrugged, rolling his wheelchair into math nonchalantly, but accidentally leaned too far forward and dropped his binder on the ground. A hand shot out to catch it before Aradia even began to reach down.

"Here ya go, dude. Cool binder by the way. Motherfucking sweet." The lanky guy said, placing the binder back on Tavros's lap. He blushed, well aware his binder was covered in fiduspawn stickers. Vriska would be having a field day if she could see.

"I, um, t-thank you," Tavros mumbled. The dude was easily a good foot taller than Tavros, two since he was in the wheelchair, with overly shaggy black hair and a wide, relaxed grin. He seemed familiar, in fact, Tavros was  _sure_ he'd seen him before. No one else had such huge purple eyes, eyes that roughly half the girls in school wanted.

"Heeeyyyy, I know you!" He exclaimed, "Motherfucking... Nitrate? Nah, that shit ain't right. Tavbro?"

"Um, T-tavros...Nitram...Actually." Tavros said quietly, "I, er, know you too? Maybe?"

"Aw, but Tavbro is so  _sweet._ I'mma call you that instead, 'kay?"

"Gamzee. Gamzee Makara." Aradia murmured. "Yes, I've seen you talk with Equius. Also the angry Vantas boy. We don't talk though. Different circles, different souls watching over..."

"Uh, circles?" Gamzee asked, "Like my wicked sweats?" He pointed to his dark gray sweatpants, which were indeed pocked with circles.

"Social circles, Gamzee. We don't generally interact. Like I've said, you are usually with the irritable Vantas boy, also someone Tavros and I don't talk to. Also Equius, who I don't know too well, despite his odd infatuation with me in middle school. Oh, I'm rambling. Oops."

"O-only a little bit," Tavros put it, feeling more and more nervous under Gamzee's purple stare. "Thanks for...helping me...Gamzee."

"Aw, it's cool Tavbro! S'all good. But I don't have a seat yet, or any buddies in this class, excepting y'all. Where do you guys pop a squat?"

"The back." Aradia gestured. "Help yourself. The desk without a chair is Tavros's. The desk with the multitude of post-it ghosts drawn in marker is mine."

While Gamzee chose a seat, Tavros leaned over as best he could to whisper to Aradia. "Your 'new' feeling was right. He got transferred into our math class. Does he make you nervous too?"

"I say this with the highest possible love and respect for you Tavros, but everyone makes you nervous, except possibly me. Don't you still get anxious around Nepeta? And you've known her for two years. You've known me since seventh grade. You met Equius...when? When he and Nepeta started dating? Or before, when they were friends?"

"Aradia, you're, um, rambling a bit."

"Oh. Oops."

"Yooo, are you rad motherfuckers gonna come and sit down, or...?" Gamzee slurred, waving them over, "The teacher's gonna start the class n' stuff."

"Oh! Uh, thanks." Tavros rolled as fast as he could to his desk, preparing his notebook. Junior year was the year SATs and other tests began to really matter, and he had to get good grades to get scholarships. His poor uncle had to deal with enough already, expecting him to pay for college was just too much! Besides, no one would hire Tavros for a part time job; Scholarships was his best option. Gotta be prepared.

"Hey, Tavbro. Do you have a motherfucking pen?"

* * *

"So, Tavros. What do you think of Gamzee so far?" Aradia asked curiously. "You didn't seem to be quite so shy today."

The pair was walking (er...) to their normal lunch table, only a few feet from the lunch lines. Aradia and Tavros had both gotten pizza, Tavros in hopes of gaining weight, and Aradia, because she liked pizza.

She didn't really care what people thought anymore.

"Aradia!" Feferi squealed, tackling her girlfriend. "I missed you!"

Aradia kissed her on the cheek, "You saw me in history though."

"But that was  _ages_ ago!"

"H-hi Feferi," Tavros said. He'd always been a little bit scared of her bubbly personality, maybe because he was a little worried that one days she'd try to help him with his confidence issues, but Aradia's calm demeanor matched her perfectly. Feferi was a strict vegetarian, so she had a salad, like usual.

"So, like I was saying. Do you like Gamzee?" Aradia dug into her pizza, watching him with intent burgundy eyes.

" _L-like?! Like_ him? I, um, I dunno!" Tavros sputtered, turning bright red. Feferi giggled, flashing a warm grin at him.

"Oh no, I don't think she means like  _that!_ Gamzee Makara, right? I keep wanting to call him Mackerel." Aradia nodded.

"Tavros, I meant are you less  _nervous_ around him. Unless there's something I should know about,  _like_ related." She winked at him, and he looked down shyly.

"Well, I don't...Um, I haven't really...I guess I'm less nervous?...He's...really tall." He awkwardly grabbed his pizza. "And, um, kind of sleepy-looking. He's...nice." He ate hurriedly, trying to ignore the knowing glances of Aradia and Feferi. Feferi spent enough time with Nepeta as it was, if word somehow got out about his admiration for Gamzee (he refused to call it a crush), then he wouldn't be able to talk to him at all! Even though it had only been three days, they'd already talked five times, not that Tavros had been keeping track. That was like, a personal record. He'd sat next to Aradia during history in seventh grade for a full two months before daring to say hi to her. Gamzee just inspired friendless, he supposed. Like an added bonus to his avatar! Circle sweatpants = +2 social? Something like that, anyway.

"You know, Feferi, you  _should_ call him Mackerel." Aradia smiled at the brunette. "I think he'd like it."


	2. Chapter 2

Eridan Ampora grimaced across the room, sticking out his tongue at the glasses clad boy he was currently (get it?) arguing with. Well, one  _could_ call it an argument. Too good-natured to be a fight, too angsty to be teasing, too without reason to be an argument. Eridan hated things that he couldn't classify, and Sollux was definitely one of them. The bastard annoyed the shit out of him, but then he'd be  _sweet,_ and hold his hand out of nowhere, or kiss him on the cheek goodbye. To be fair, Eridan played the game too, tagging him in cute posts on Facebook, and tickling him in the ribs when his back was turned. Frankly, he was positive their friends were 100% done with it, but one couldn't stop the game so easily. What if Sollux didn't actually like him? After all, Terezi and Karkat played that game too, and Terezi took a year to decide that she liked him.

Knowing Sollux, the asshat would probably take two years, just because he loved the damn number so much. But where did that put them? Senior year? College? Eridan couldn't wait forever!

He caught a glimpse of Sollux sticking out his pierced tongue and smiled to himself. Thank god their science teacher didn't pay attention to his two best pupils. The bell rang for lunch, and unsurprisingly Sollux strolled up to Eridan's desk.

"Hey fishdick." The slight lisp made Eridan grin, like it always did, a sound almost more adorable than the lips that spoke it.

"Hello, Thollux."

"Aw, the lisp? What a low blow Ampora." Sollux bowed his head in mock-hurt, "And I'd thought you'd come up with new material."

"You're still using 'fishdick'. And shut up, your lisp is fuckin' cute, and you knoww it."

"I what it?"

"Knoww."

"Pardon?"

" _Knoww._ Shut up, my thing wwith w's is not supposed to be made fun of. It's not cute." Eridan frowned.

"Maybe not to you." Sollux winked, "Maybe to me it's  _vvery_ cute."

"Shut up."

The two made their way to the cafeteria, and Eridan drifted out of the hallway chatter and back to sophmore year. Feferi had met two people in her Theater class, a slightly creepy girl and an extremely anti-social boy. "Let's be fronds!" She had said, and you begrudgingly befriended Aradia and Sollux with her. She was your best friend, you weren't about to lose her to a computer geek. Well, that's what you  _first_ thought, which made you insanely, strangely jealous, but it turned out that  _Aradia_ was the one that Fef wanted. How long had they been dating now? Eight months?

And he and Captor were still in the damn friendzone. His attraction to Sollux was weird, and he hadn't told anybody but Fef, although there wasn't exactly lots of people to tell. He  _detested_ the bastard, but wanted to push him against a wall and kiss him good and-

"Uh, Ampora?"

"Huh?! Wwhat?"

"You gonna order, or...?"

Eridan flushed pink before grabbing a salad and flouncing over to their table, the table so charged with flirtatious energy that they rarely got visitors.

"I don't get it," Sollux said, "You're a vegetarian like FF, but you hunt?"

"i do not  _hunt,_ I  _fish,_ there's a fuckin' difference." Eridan sniffed haughtily. "And my kills are superb."

"Ugh, if I see one more Facebook picture of you holding  _another goddamned fish,_ I'll flip a table."

"You look at my pictures?" Eridan asked with surprised. Sollux turned bright red and choked on his hamburger.

"N-no, not like  _that!_ They show up on my newsfeed, okay?!" He sputtered, "It's not a big deal!"

"Then wwhy are you gettin' so flustered, Sol?" Eridan asked smugly.

"I'm not."

"You so are."

"Am  _not._ "

"Admit it Captor, you wwant me." Eridan teased.

"Fine Ampora. But you 'wwant'  _me_  more." Sollux retorted, smirking at him. Eridan gaped, unable to deny it, but also unable to flirt back.

"Appleberry, leave Grape alone!" rasped Terezi, sliding in next to the quarreling boys. Karkat sullenly sat beside her. It was a wonder TZ ever figured out he liked her; He was so pissy all the time it was hard to tell, even when he was around Sollux, who was actually his friend, and had been for some time. Since middle school actually, on the first day of Computer Literacy.

"Pyrope, for the  _last_ time, my name is not Grape." Eridan snapped, "Just like  _yours_ isn't Cherry, and Kar's isn't Candy Apple."

"Don't get your cape in a twist, Grape." She snickered. "I'm just being silly, don't mind me. Continue angrily flirting. I'm not watching!" She flipped her ginger hair and the curled ends flounced cheerfully. Terezi was basically a walking burst of red, with her red hair, red backpack, and red sunglasses. Of course they'd be red. Eridan had a suspicion that Karkat's bright scarlet eyes ("Shut the fuck up about my eyes, fishdick.") were one of the huge reasons she actually fell for the asshole. However the hell she knew he had red eyes.

"Hey fishdick," Sollux asked, "You gonna eat that?"

* * *

"Ayyyyyy, Tavbro!" Gamzee drawled, strolling into Math. His sleepy girn made Tavros smile a little in return. His dishevelled hair was crazy as usual, and a long sleeved black t-shirt clung to his lean muscles. "Uh, you okay?"

Tavros jumped, blushing furiously.  _What an awful time to stare at him!_ "I, um, h-hello...Gamzee."

Gamzee playfully ruffled Tavros's mohawk, making him laugh.

"Aw, that's motherfucking cute. I've never heard ya laugh before." He grinned at Tavros and sat down, pulling out the pen he'd been given on the first day he switched classes. He'd tried to return it, but Tavros wouldn't hear of it.

"Well, I, uh, don't laugh much. Unless I'm around Aradia, I guess."

"Yeaaah, how long you know Megido? You two are real close n' stuff."

"Oh, we are?" Tavros asked in surprise. "Well, I...I guess we are, yeah. I'm surprised you noticed. We've known each other since, um...middle school. Seventh grade. We sat by each other for two months in...history. She spoke up in class...A lot. And I respected that and...said hi." He smiled softly at his chair-less desk, reminiscing. Aradia was like a ball of energy back then, constantly bubbling over with strange facts and knowledge. After the accident she'd gotten calmer, even a little apathetic, but she still liked the things she used to, so that was okay. She was okay.

"Tav?"

"Oh, uh, here! I mean, hi. I...crap." He groaned, "Sorry. I was, uh, thinking. About Aradia."

"What about her, bro?"

"Well, in freshman year she developed a little bit of depression..? Because of a, um, bully. And she...well, I think I'm allowed to tell? She doesn't really mind anymore. She got depressed, disappeared for a bit, and when she came back she was calm and a little spooky. I mean, she always like spooky stuff, but now she  _is_."

"Oh yeah, I think I heard about that shit." Gamzee exclaimed, "I heard she was in the hospital? Or something like that?"

"I'm not sure. She never really explained, and it's not my place to ask." Tavros shrugged. "But she's still really nice."

"Like yooouuu," Gamzee giggled, lightly pushing his shoulder.

"A-are you okay?" He asked hesitantly. "Oh! I mean, t-thank you...And, you are, um, too."

"D'awww, I am?" Motherfucking  _thanks,_ Tavbro."

"Y-You're welcome."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Rose!" John called, running up to her, holding his jacket hood over his head, "Wait up!"

The blonde paused, letting the rain pitter-patter on her black umbrella. Rain was indeed common for October, but naturally, Egbert wasn't prepared. Jeez, did she need to supervise him at all times? "John, get under the umbrella."

"But I'm fine!" He complained. "It's just rain!"

"John Egbert. Think of it this way. If you get a cold, then you'll be stuck with me even more, because  _who_ is gonna watch over you while your dad isn't home?"

"If that's your reasoning, I'd rather get a cold," muttered John, under his breath.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." He stepped under the umbrella reluctantly, ruffling his now wet, dark brown hair.

John and Rose had been friends practically before they were born. Their parents were neighbors, and also best friends, so they'd  _had_ to get along. 'Getting along' turned into friendship, friendship turned into best friends, and for John Egbert, best friends turned into a very secret crush. Well, in his mind, it was secret. It reality, pretty much everyone knew, or at least, had a suspicion. Even Jade knew, and she was generally pretty oblivious to things like that. As long as Rose didn't know, it would be okay.

Unfortunately for John, Rose was  _really_ hard to read. There was virtually no way to know what she was thinking, or if she meant what she said, and if you asked, she'd just smile demurely. "Even I don't know for sure," she would say. So he'd stopped asking.

Even now, walking silently in the rain, under Rose's black umbrella, after knowing her for so long, he felt incredibly nervous. She smelled faintly of lilacs and vanilla, and her slightly damp blonde bob swung by her jaw line. A lacy gray dress floated above her knees, her pale legs had black boots laced on them, and a serene smile rested on her black lipstick'd mouth. She hadn't really changed since their sand box days, and looked just as wise and all-knowing, if not more so. He hadn't changed either.

Still a glasses wearing dork who had a huge crush on her.

* * *

"Sollux, have you ever considered asking Eridan on an actual date, instead of constantly flirting?" Aradia asked, munching on chips. As usual, they were in Sollux's bedroom, about to watch horror movies like they always did on Saturday nights. AA just couldn't get enough spooky shit. It didn't help that it was almost Halloween, that just encouraged her. Because of Aradia, Sollux had played Hide and Seek Alone, Bloody Mary, Slenderman, Ib, and even used a Ouija board,  _way_ more often than he would have liked.

Ghosts sucked. Majorly.

" _No,_ I haven't. I don't even know if I like him, okay?"

"Obviously you do, or else you two wouldn't be fighting all the time."

"Shut up. AA, I don't want to have this conversation." He snapped, "Let's just watch the Grudge and eat popcorn and forget about it."

"Maybe I'll invite Feferi over sometime. And maybe she'll bring Eridan?" Aradia suggested.

"Don't you fucking dare."

* * *

Tavros squinted at his phone in confusion. When was the last time someone had called him? Normally if he needed his friends, he just messaged them. In fact, he couldn't remember when he'd last given out his phone number. Did he even have more than three contacts?

"Um, hello? Who is this?" He squeaked.

"Heeeeey Tavbro!" A calm voice on the other end of the phone answered. "Wassup?"

"G-gamzee? How did you get my phone number?"

"I asked. Doing anything fun?"

"Well, uh, not particularly?" he glanced at his computer, with the WoW login screen still open. "Why?"

"Movie. You and me?"

"M-movie? When? I think I'm free on Saturday..." Tavros stammered.  _Movie? What?!_

"Oh naaaaawww Tavbro! I mean  _now._ Please? The new TMNT movie is out, and starting in like...half an hour? I've got faygoooo~" Gamzee singsonged.

Tavros was stunned. Gamzee wanted to hang out with  _him_? What was faygo? He liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles too?  _Should he go_? "Uh...Okay. Where are you?"

"About five minutes from your house." He could practically heart Gamzee's smug grin against the phone.

"Let me guess. You asked?"

"Uhuuuuh. Want me to pick you up?"

The doorbell rang and Tavros smiled. "Well, I think you've already, um, taken care of that." He rolled to the door, opening it to find a grinning Gamzee, still on his phone. A pair of dark faded jeans hung loosely on his gangly frame, and a t-shirt, black of course, clung tightly in contrast, emphasizing his sizeable biceps. So used to seeing him in long sleeves and sweatpants, Tavros just about had a heart attack. He looked so  _good._

And then there  _he_ was, in khaki shorts and an old fiduspawn t-shirt. Could he be  _any_ more childish?! Gamzee was a  _man,_ and Tavros was-

"Tavbro? You ready?" Gamzee asked curiously. "Do I look funny or something?"

"No! Nooooo, no no, you look great. I, um, I mean, you...look, um, g-good?" he exclaimed hastily. "I'm, uh, sorry I look...not good."

"But you do look good." Gamzee said, flashing him a smile. "C'mon Tavbro, we don't wanna be late."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is a really shitty chapter. Jesus, this looked WAAAAY better in the notebook. Please review and let me know what you think. I'll make Chapter Four longer, I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

Dave Strider was many things, but he was the only person to every dare call himself an idiot.

How could he have known that in four years he'd love her? He was only twelve when Jade decided she liked him, and he's said, oh god, he'd said he wanted to be  _friends._ That she was like a sister to him. Oh, how wrong he'd been. He definitely did not think of Jade like a brother would. If he hadn't been an  _idiot,_ he could be holding her hand as she walked down the hall, or cuddling her and watching movies, or kissing her hello and goodbye, but  _no._ He's said 'let's be friends', and she'd said 'oh, okay'. And dated Karkat. Then Rose for a little bit. He was pretty sure her and Feferi went out to a few movie-dinner dates. Thank god Dirk was in love with Jake, or else he probably would have dated her too. He'd said 'let's be friends', and she got over him. What level of friendzone was this, when you did it to yourself? Two years of 'just friends' and her dating people woke him up  _real_ fast.

Dave was in love with Jade Harley. And he'd  _fucking blown it._

"Dave!" Jade called cheerfully, running down the hall, "Guess what?!"

"What."

She pouted, sticking out one light pink bottom lip. " _Guess,_ Dave!"

"How about no?" He deadpanned.

"Bluh!" she stuck her tongue out, "You're no fun!"

"I know. What's the thing?"

"Oh! Me and Dirk's robotics project! It's working!" She exclaimed. "We got it to walk today! And we were talking about the possibility of Earth getting taken over by sentient robots, if we ever _did_ invent AI. Which I really wanna do! If there's good and bad humans, there's gotta be good and bad robots, right?"

As she chattered on, Dave smiled a hint of a smile, a happy smile, the smile he reserved for days when Bro got home early, and not at four in the morning. A smile that usually showed up when he was around Jade. A smile she...never really noticed.

He was such an  _idiot._ Only figuring out he liked her  _after_ rejecting her, great fucking move, Strider! Best idea you've had all year! Now she's over you, and you're in the same damn boat as Egderp. Having a  _crush._

"Yeah, Jade, sounds cool."

"Ooh, it's 'cool', huh?" She teased, "It takes a lot for something to get the 'cool' rank from you!" She playfully shoved him with her shoulder, and if he hadn't practiced since elementary days not to, he would have blushed.

"Not really. I'm cool. Robots are cool. DJing is cool." He paused. "You're cool."

_Actually, what I mean is 'you're fucking beautiful', but you know, I can't exactly say that, can I? Dammit!_

"I'm cool!" She gasped, grinning at him.

"Uhuh. Maybe a little." He raised his eyebrows at her, an antic he knew she loved because she smiled every time he did it.

"Oh, shut up you, I  _am_ cool. No ifs, ands, or maybes!" Jade linked arms with him, smiling her with emerald-green braces and matching eyes behind huge glasses. God, she was so beautiful.

If only he hadn't been an idiot.

* * *

"Hey Rose!" John shouted, running up to the blonde. She was unusually bright today, in a soft white dress instead of gray or black. "What's up?"

"The ceiling is significantly up, I should think." She replied, smiling softly. Of course she'd never say so out loud, but she secretly loved having witty retorts to his questions. Not because she enjoyed being clever (which she did), but because every time she did, John would bite his lower lip and smile.

Oh dear  _lord,_ that lip bite. Rose was so not okay. That lip bite wreaked havoc on her imagination, but she'd never  _ever_ tell. Except Jade, her best friends and once girlfriend. It didn't take Rose long to realize that Jade's feelings were platonic, and although they parted amicably, she knew she had dated her to try to form feelings for  _anyone_ but Dave. Crushes were a bad idea, Rose knew that perfectly well.

So she kept hers a secret.

Imagine if she didn't! What if John pulled a Dave and because he'd known her so long, he didn't feel romantically towards her? What if he was secretly in love with her older sister, and that was why he came over so much? Any number of possibilities could be the case, and Rose wasn't going to take any chances.

For God's sake, she still remembered when John was shorter than her. When his voice cracked whenever he got indignant. And then he grew eight feet, and his voice lowered, and his dark brown hair got shaggy and flopped into his gorgeous eyes. And  _then,_ when they went swimming the summer before freshman year, and he'd pulled off his shirt and had abs.

Oh yeah, Rose was a goner. She didn't act like it thought, which was in her favor. There were certainly worse ways to go.

"Rose?" John asked, "Are you okay? You're kinda spacing out."

"Yeah. I'm absolutely fine."

* * *

Kankri Vantas wasn't really sure how to comfort a crying girl. He hadn't exactly had his share of them, with only a cranky cousin, so he wasn't particularly equipped to deal with the quietly crying Latula. All he had done for the last ten minutes was perch anxiously above her and let her wear his oversize red sweatshirt, which she gratefully burrowed into. Normally he'd try and help by going off into a speech, but with Tula...Kankri was actually worried about saying the wrong thing.

"Latula, would you care to elaborate on your current-" He started to say, but she whirled around to hug him, burying her face into his chest, and the words died in his throat. She breathed deep and exhaled slowly before pulling away and wiping her eyes. She'd taken off her red glasses when she'd first started crying, and her teal eyes stared deeply into his own. Latula was strong. She'd be okay.

"Thanks, Kan." She said brightly. "I'm good now, you can talk. Don't worry about offending me."

"I..." Kankri paused, "In the least disrespectful way possible, I'm very sorry about Mituna. Obviously, after three years, it's going to be extremely hard on you. Especially for  _Kurloz._ Why even bother with him when there's  _you_? Really, I can't even fathom-"

Latula threw her arms around his neck unexpectedly, nuzzling her head under his chin. "Sh. Thank you. I'll be alright. I  _am_ alright. If he's happy with Kurloz then I'll go be happy somewhere else. No big deal."

"It  _is_ a big deal though," Kankri huffed, "You're so wonderful."

"Thanks Kanny," she teased, ruffling his mop of dark brown hair. "But 4srs, I'll be fine. Thanks for the sweatshirt. Mind if I wear it a little while longer?"

"No, I don't mind. Porrim keep sending them anyway, I have more than enough." He scuffled his feet and held still as she hugged him goodbye, and shut the door.

"Aargh!" He slumped against the wall, hands buried in the hair she'd ruffled. He'd messed it up again. He'd waited for so long, became friends with her, fell in love. Watched as she dated Mituna for  _three years._ Been happy for her. Now they'd broken up and he sat there mute, when he  _could have said something._ The one time he actually shut up, and it was when she was crying. Porrim would have his head! Scratch that, he'd have his own. Ugh, what an idiot he was being!

She came to him. He was the first person Latula came to whenever she was upset. That had to mean  _something._

 _That you're friendzoned to level 9000_? Probably. She was so perfect, and he was so...speech-y. As long as he could remember, he was speech-y, so he kept being speech-y. What else was there to be? Ever since he was made fun of in elementary school, he grew a shell of words, big words, subtle ways to insult his bullies. So what if he was poorer than the rest of those stupid children? They'd teased his mercilessly.

But not Latula. "Jeez guys, what gives?" She'd complained in fifth grade. "You're such jerks." And then she'd picked him up off the ground and led him to the grass. Just like she did the next day, and the day after, for a solid four months, before asking if he wanted to hang out.

During that movie, sitting in the Pyrope living room, was the first time anyone had told him to 'sh'. And he  _loved_ it. Because that meant she was listening. Because she said it kindly, and touched his cheek. She'd towered over him back then, before he'd had a growth spurt and inched out to almost her height. Was she always going to see him as that kid she picked up off the ground?

He'd like to lie, to say he was stronger than he used to be, but that wasn't true. He wasn't strong like her. Still weak. Still waiting for Latula to pick him up. Too afraid to tell her he loved her, too in love with her to fall for someone else.

Kankri was still a little boy.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Damara Megido was so done with boys. Actually, she was kinda done with everything, but in particular, she was done with the whole of the male species.

Especially Rufioh Nitram. Cheating! He was cheater. And he'd cheated on  _her._ Done, done, done. She didn't need anymore assholes in her life, besides her douchebag of a stepfather. Then there was Meenah, who incessantly teased her about her stupid ex, and Horuss, who she longed to hate, but couldn't because she'd fallen for the 'hey doll!" thing just like he did. Rufioh didn't even  _like_ Horuss! And the poor horsey boy just moped around all the time. She couldn't be mad at him.

She was just done. Wanted to disappear, to start over. Even punching Rufioh, and apparently breaking his arm (hell yeah!) according to facebook, didn't make her feel all that better. Wearing thicker makeup and having her hair up made her feel a little better. Smoking, drinking, being dirty, helped her take her mind off of him.

She still wasn't  _happy._

In fact, Damara was currently sitting in science, trying to figure out a way to skip without the school calling her freaky stepdad. He'd probably beat her if he found out.  _Young women need to be educated!_ He'd yell. So, how to skip? At least she had to find a way to sneak out and eat something, if not for her grumbling stomach, then to get the hell out of this boring-ass class. She grabbed the pass, a wooden cube, and entertained the idea of pelting Rufioh with it before flouncing out.

God, she was just so  _tired._ Tired, and hungry. What was she anyway? A prop? A girl to have around for chores and homework, forced to get good grades so she could add to her stepdaddy's reputation. She wanted to rebel  _so bad,_ but a bigger percentage of her was scared about what would happen. Would he take away the few things that made her happy? Why weren't they close in the first place? Other daughters loved their dads. Rufioh adored his. Mom was away, working for magazines, and Doctor Evan Scratch was the only father she'd ever known. Weren't they supposed to be close? Wasn't she the closest thing he'd ever gotten to a kid, supposed to be spoiled beyond belief?

In the midst of her thoughts, she wasn't looking where she was going, and promptly bumped into someone, squishing her nose, and letting out a " _fuck_!"

"Whoa, little girl, big mouth." The guy said, his violet eyes wide. his dark blond hair was slicked back like something out of the 50's, and he wore a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She back up to glare at him with her own burgundy eyes.

"Just because I'm little, it does not mean I am innocent," She snapped, crossing her arms.

"Do you have a lisp or something?"

"I'm Japanese, you uncultured fuck."

"Ohhh! Hey there sweetcheeks, my name's Cronus." He eagerly yanked her hand out from its folded position to shake it, and she narrowed her eyes.

"I am Damara Megido. I doubt we will ever meet again, like this. So goodbye, Cronus."

"Wait, don't say that. I  _know_ I've seen you before." he said anxiously. "You're too pretty for me never to have seen you before."

"What, are you going to tell me that you seek others like yourself? Compliments are not of use with the girls of broken hearts." She rolled her eyes, almost amused. It would make sense for a girl like Damara, with her overbearing stepfather and absentee mom to have self-esteem problems, but Damara wasn't one for sense. She was hot, and she knew it. However, because she was pretty, she also took no half-assed compliments, and everything about this guy screamed 'half assed'.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Join the club, my heart was crushed too." He smiled at her wryly. 'So maybe we can talk about it over coffee?"

"We are at school."

"Maybe after?" He gazed down at her hopefully.

"That better be a damn good cup of coffee," She muttered, unfolding her arms. "Fine. But  _after_ classes."

"Do you really care about your grades or something?" Cronus asked suprisedly, "You didn't seem the type."

Damara cocked an eyebrow and flipped him off before sauntering away. "Four o'clock, dumbass! You better not be late."

* * *

Sollux was nervous. Very nervous. Of course, it helped that Aradia and Eridan were there beside him, holding his hands, but it was still the first time he'd seen his half-brother since their dad's birthday.

 _Why_ did his dad have to cheat all those years ago? With two girls so different from each other that Sollux and his mom didn't even know Mituna existed until Sollux's twelfth birthday.

Three years and he could count on the hands his friends were holding the number of times they'd talked. Only one if you wanted literate conversations. Mituna's accident sucked. If there was any chance the two boys could be friends, it was leeched away on Sollux's twelfth birthday, when his dad didn't show up because he was caring for his first, secret son.

Didn't call.

Didn't warn them.

Just didn't show up. Because Sollux meant  _that little_ to him. Mom had kicked him out when she found out why he didn't show up, and Sollux hadn't even seen his father in two years, not since he married Mituna's mom and left his. There just wasn't anything to talk about.

But now, Mituna was  _here._ In  _Sollux's_ school. Because he had been held back a grade, and Sollux's dad had decided that it would be a 'good opportunity for them to bond'.

Oh god. They had the same last name for christsakes, would he have to go around answering the dreaded 'is he your brother?!' question? Did dad expect him to lead him around like a puppy? God, could he  _get_ anymore selfish?!

"Hi, Mituna." Sollux said stiffly. Not even Latula could intervene now. He actually  _liked_ Latula, mostly because she never brought the situation up, and also because she could just take over any Mituna issue, but  _no,_ The stupid fuck decided he liked Kurloz. Gamzee's crazy-ass mute older brother? Fucking perfect.

"Hai Thollux!" Mituna lisped heavily. A wide grin covered half the expanse of his face, with his overly shaggy black hair covering the other half. His golden eyes, exactly like Sollux's were covered by it, but the resemblance was incredibly striking. He could feel waves of disbelief radiating off Eridan, who'd never seen Mituna before, and inwardly winced. This was gonna be hard to explain later.

"Yeah." He said awkwardly. "Mituna, this is Eridan and Aradia. Guys this is my...This is...This is Mituna."

Mituna, true to his nature, waved excitedly. "Tho now waht?"

"Um...I don't know. Don't you want to go find Kurloz?" Sollux asked, trying to be civil.  _And leave me alone_?

"Yetthhhhtthhh!" Crowed Mituna loudly, and Sollux blanched.  _There is people in these halls, oh my god!_

"Do you need help?" Aradia asked calmly, squeezing Sollux's hand.

"No, I'm sine. Fine. He thaid he'b bee ovur by the lockerth. Tho I'm okay." He said, snickering for no apparently reason.

Sollux jumped back when he walked by, and only started breathing when he was gone. He slumped to the ground, burying his head between his knees. "I hate doing that."

"Sollux, you've really got to get better at hiding your distrust of him." Aradia chided. "He may not be able to tell yet, but the rest of us can."

"How am I supposed to?" Sollux mumbled, "That brain-dead bastard stole my dad."

" _Sollux._ Don't call him that. At least not in earshot of people that don't know what's going on."

"Like me, you mean? 'Cuz I'vve got no flippin' clue wwhat's going on." Eridan put in. "I came 'cuz Sol looked upset."

"Oh gee, I'm touched," Sollux snapped from his curled up position, instantly softening. "Sorry. It's a long story.

There was a soft thump, and Sollux opened one gold eye to see Eridan sitting next to him on the ground. "I'm listening. I'm guessin' it's pretty angsty, yeah?"

Sollux nodded wordlessly.

"So. Ww'eve got time. I didn't wwant to go to language arts anywway."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and unearthed his face.

"He's my half-brother."

* * *

"Thanks for the, uh, movie, Gamzee." Tavros said shyly. The sky had just fallen dark and was littered with sparkly stars. Gamzee stood in front of him, hands entangled in his mop of hair, eyes firmly locked on Tavros. He could feel a blush creep up the longer he stared at him, and looked down nervously. "It, um, was r-really fun."

"You think so?" Gamzee asked softly, leaning a little closer. "I'm glad you had fun, Tavbro."

"U-um, yes, I... I did." He stammered, face steadily growing even redder. "I, I, I, I, um, you, t-thanks again." God, he was freaking out! What was this, and why was his heart beating so goddamned fast?!

"Tav? Are you okay?" Gamzee murmured, and gently ruffled his mohawk with affection. "You seem a little...motherfucking jumpy."

"J-jump? N-no, I just..." He exhaled shakily. "I've never been on a...d-date, if that's what this is anyway, and I'm a little...n-nervous."

"Tavbro, of course this is a date. Unless you don't want it to be, I guess."

"Y-yes! I want it to be!" he blurted, and froze at Gamzee's grin.

"Me too, Tavvy." Gamzee slurred, leaning in close and plunking a kiss on Tavros' cheek. Tavros' eyes went wide, and his heart thumped so loud he thought it would jump out of his throat.  _He likes me_?!

"Do you want a real one?" He whispered in Tavros' ear. Tavros blushed furiously, and nodded hesitantly as Gamzee softly pressed his lush lips to his own. Tavros was speechless by the feel of his lips on his, the gently caress of Gamzee. A hand stroked through his mohawk, barely pulling him closer, and Gamzee pulled back, grinning like a mofo.

"Goodnight, Tavbro."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Suicide attempt; Mild bulimia; Abuse

Aradia Megido had a lot of skills, but picking up the perfect birthday present for Feferi was being unusually difficult. Her sixteenth birthday was coming up, and Aradia had  _no clue_ what to get her. Jewelry seemed tacky, and even a little early in the relationship. Was eight months still early? Books? Were books good? Ugh, this was frustrating. She pulled down Sollux's black beanie, a beanie she'd nabbed during their last movie and adjusted its place on her thick, curly hair, yawning a little. They'd texted for a full two hours later than she'd intended last night, and even sleeping in couldn't make up for the deficit.

"Hey, Aradia!" Feferi squealed, wrapping her arms around her waist and giving a quick squeeze. "What're ya thinking aboat?" She giggled at her own joke.

"Your birthday." She said casually. "I'm trying to figure out what to give you."

"Aw," cooed Fef, "That's so sweet! You don't have to..."

"Yes I do." Aradia said calmly. Feferi's face fell slightly as she reached up to finger the knit material of the beanie.

"Isn't this...Sollux's?" She asked, weakly smiling. Aradia looked down in surprise at her girlfriend, blinking her huge burgundy eyes, which hid behind black plastic glasses today.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I don't know. It smells like him, I guess." She paused. "You wear a lot of his stuff. Sweatshirts, t-shirts, beanies, pajama bottoms..." Aradia simply nodded, not noticing the implication. "You guys are really close, huh?"

"Don't you mean...  _reel-y_ close?" Aradia joked, lightly pushing on her shoulder. Feferi just shrugged, mumbling something about getting some salad. "Oh, okay. Bye, I love you."

Aradia and Feferi hadn't always been girlfriends, or even friends. In middle school they were from completely opposite worlds. Feferi was rich, and practically forbidden from conversation with anyone poorer than her. Aradia was an outcast, albeit an extremely friendly one, and barely had enough money to eat. No one shared her interests, and the only people to tolerate her were Sollux, who she'd known since third grade, and her tentative new friend, Tavros. Very talkative, both at school, and at home, middle school Aradia was happy, plain and simple.

Then came the fire. Lightning struck the house, struck a fuse. Everything went up in smoke, even her small collection of books and her already ratty clothes. All of it... gone. Aradia and her mom were living in a homeless shelter, and without any relatives to call and ask for help, they were stuck there until her mom scraped together enough money to rent something,  _anything._ Aradia wasn't old enough to get a job, and no normal people in the well-manicured subdivisions would hire her for even a lawn-job, because they didn't trust her. Her grades were plummeting, _everything_ was plummeting.

The night she decided to pour herself a cup of bleach had been the worst. Vriska and the rest of the skinny lizard girls had sniggered at her messy hair, her schoolbag ripped open in the rain, spilling weeks of unfinished assignments into the road, and her coat broke again, letting the wind flow freely into her. what she was thinking at the moment, she couldn't quite remember, but a fleeting thought of 'it will be easier for mom to provide if she only has to take care of herself' burned in her brain. Everything went dark.

When she woke, she was in a hospital and her mom was in a business suit. A distant, very, very,  _very,_ distant, relative paid for the hospital, and had even given her a job. Everything was going to be okay.

If only Aradia could muster up enough excitement to be happy. She didn't feel anything. All her old hobbies faded away, replaced with apathy. She did them because she knew she liked those things, once upon a time. Nothing seemed to matter, and when Vriska teased her next, she punched her without a second thought.

Vriska didn't bother her anymore.

Even Feferi, she didn't really  _feel_ things about. Deep down, she knew she was supposed to love her, sometimes she even felt it, but mostly she was covered in a cupcake frosting thick layer of  _not caring._

Gotta exist, even if you don't feel like you're living.

* * *

"Vris? You home?" Her mom called, the sound of giggling coming from the living room.

"Yeah." She responded, dropping her cheerleading bag on the floor and kicking off her shoes, checking herself out in the hallway mirror. Practice had been exceptional today, with the entire squad finally completing the dance routine flawlessly, and everything was on point. Vriska didn't want to leave.

But everyone had to go home sometime.

She knew exactly what people said about her. Selfish, conceited, a bitch. Aren't we all? Vriska just didn't hide it as well. She  _had_ to be sometimes. If no one helped her, for god's sake, she'd do it herself. If you want something done, you  _have_ to do it yourself! A lesson she'd learned a long time ago, when she was nine and her mom got a boyfriend. Well, that was all fine and dandy, good for  _her,_ but who was gonna help Vris now?

Hint: No one.

Conversations that once had her mom riveted now went on in silence, replied to only by Vriska herself. It started small, Vriska having to make her own dinner, having to catch the bus because mom couldn't drive her. Mother and daughter drifted apart.

No biggie. Just life.

"How was practice?" Vriska's mom asked, peering out from the living room. "I saved you some leftovers."

"Let me guess, Eric's favorite?' Vriska said sarcastically, pulling the Tupperware out of the fridge.

"Vris, don't do this," Her mom said wearily, leaning against the wall. "We've done this before. Eric makes me-"

"Happy, I know. Probably horny too, but hey, that's none of  _my_ business." She deadpanned, shoving dinner into the microwave.

" _Vriska!_ " Her mom said angrily. "I was trying to be nice, I really was, but I"m done. Go do your homework."

"That sounds  _exciting_." She rolled her eyes. A part of her felt empty, sad, because she knew her mom was trying, but the bitter rest of her overpowered those feelings. She left the lasagna in the microwave, even though the warm sauce and noodles called to her grumbling stomach, and grabbed a carton of ice cream instead, retreating to her room.

She was so  _weak._ Ice cream?! Come on Vriska, is that anything that an aspiring head cheerleader would eat?

_Shut up._

Come on. You know what you have to do. You wanna prove that you're strong, right? Cheerleaders aren't  _weak._ Girls like you aren't  _weak._

_I hurt._

Your muscles hurt? Aw, poor baby. Not. Get up, Vrissy. You're strong enough. Do it. You know you need to.

She sighed, and capped the ice cream slowly retreating into her bathroom. Deep breath, throat flipping inside out, the sweet taste of ice cream turning to bitter poison in her watering mouth, and then-

Done. She was clean. Kinda dizzy, and pale, but clean. The routine was simple. Now she had to exercise for two hours. Only then would the little voice in her head let her eat, and only healthy things. Half the leftover lasagna, yes, that would be her prize for obeying the voice. Her muscles burned and her heart throbbed painfully, but she'd reap her rewards. Head cheerleader, best flyer, top of the pyramid, all her dreams were in her grasp.

She just had to work a little harder.

* * *

It was exceedingly easy to find Cronus in the crowded coffee shop. Damara just followed the smell of desperation.

"Greetings," She said archly, sipping her raspberry mocha and sitting down elegantly at the table he'd waited eagerly at. God, he was practically a puppy, waiting anxiously for its master. Although, she didn't necessarily mind playing master...

"Hey babe!" He grinned at her, and she frowned disapprovingly.

"No, 'babe'. Damara." She pointed to herself, "And Cronus."

He pouted, but acquiesced. "Hey, Damara."

She made no conversation, just sipped, and waited for him to get the hint.

"So, uh, tell me about yourself." he tried, "...Please?"

Her eyes gleamed. "Well, since you said the magic word. I'm Damara, junior. I like the color red."

"You like the color red." He repeated. "Anything else?"

The edges of her mouth curled up into a smile. This part was always fun, dodging their whims to get exactly what she wanted. This dude was a  _player,_ it was practically her civic duty to have him eating out of the palm of her hand! She  _hated_ players, always had and since Rufioh, always would. "Any specific questions?"

"I dunno."

"Then I don't either."

"What, do you want me to ask questions?"

"You figure it out."

He sighed in defeat, leaning back in his chair, and she daintily sipped her mocha. "That coffee, is it your favorite?"

 _Pretty boy finally caught on._ "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because raspberries are red." She said nonchalantly, crossing her legs in dark tights, and noticed how his eyes flicked over to her plaid skirt.

"Why red?"

"Red like fire. I am fiery too."

"I agree," he muttered, gulping as she uncrossed her legs. Damara knew  _exactly_ what she was doing. The bastard deserved it too. Players were obnoxious douchebags that broke hearts and treated girls like basic hoes, and she intended to crush them  _good and hard_. "So, um, what about a boyfriend?"

"You assume I already have one?" She snapped.

"Well, no-"

"You assume I  _don't_ have one?"

"N-not at all, I-"

"What about a girlfriend, huh? What about  _girls_?"

"If you're into that, then-"

"Why do you want to know? Is it important? No! Because my dating life is not a defining detail of me, and two-timing scum like you don't need to know. Even if I  _didn't_ have a boyfriend, and the emphasis is not an answer to your question, I wouldn't let you make any moves. I came to coffee for the coffee, not to make out with you in the back alley like some another girl. You're a _player,_ Cronus, and you treat girls like shit." She stood up, tossed her empty cup in the garbage, and stared him straight in his anime-esque violet eyes.

"Bye."

She practically skipped off, leaving him open mouthed and shocked, and looked down at her watch, panic gathering in her throat. No matter how fast she ran, she was going to be late, and Scratch would  _not_ be pleased. She took off, legs burning and lungs heaving, and almost crashed into cars for lack of stopping. Her phone buzzed with a text, and she knew in her soul that it was her angry stepfather, demanding to know where she was.

Damara burst through the door, and was greeting by a strong slap to her head, leaving her ears ringing. Her uneasy balance sent her crashing to the ground, and her stepfather loomed above her, spotless white suit bright.

"You are  _late,_ Damara!" he boomed, and she flinched. He yanked her up by the collar on her button-down and she fought back the urge to hit him. That would not end well. instead, she hung her head and muttered an apology.

"What was that?" He prompted, shaking her a bit.

" _Gomen nasai._  I'm very sorry." She growled out, and he dropped her to her knees, nodding.

"That's what I thought. I know you won't be late again, Damara. Go study at the dinner table." He cracked his knuckles, walking away while his bald head glistened like a cue ball. She rose also, brushing herself off and gathering her homework.

Couldn't disappoint Doctor Scratch.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Meenah Peixes was a leader, and everyone, especially her, knew it. Who else could be Student Body President? She knew one day, she'd be president of the whole United States, the first female president, commanding politics with her black girl sass. And maybe, somewhere along the way, she'd find someone who wanted to quietly watch at her side as she ruled the world.

Or governed. Whatev.

"Aranea!" She exclaimed, "What's the plan for today?"

Aranea Serket was her faithful scribe, best friend, and Student Council secretary. She wanted to be a writer, but was quite happy with her position as the brains of the Student Council. She was always prim and classy, almost the polar opposite of Meenah , with her long braids, barely dress code appropriate bellyshirts, and slouchy sweatpants and cargoes. Then again, maybe her relaxed, yet kickass vibe was what made her more popular with the masses, and why she rules over their highschool with an iron trident. Fist.

"The plan for today?" Aranea repeated. "Hm... Let's see. The nominees for Homecoming Prince and Princess are out, and there's decorating to do and posters to make. We are in need of some extra hands. Any suggestions, Miss President?" She smiled and Meenah smirked back.

"I'll talk to Ampora. Lord knows he's still head over heels for me, ugh!" She shuddered, and Aranea giggled.

"Cronus still has a crush on you? But you broke up!"

Meenah shrugged. "What can I say? I'm irresistable like that."

"And does an irresistable president have a date to Homecoming yet?" she teased, gathering her various books, journals, and schoolwork closer to her chest. Her neat blond bob grazed the edges of her cheekbones, and her chapstick'd lips grinned at Meenah. They'd been friends since fourth grade, and had become a nearly inseparable duo. Then Aranea's parents split up and while her little sister chose to stay with their Mom, Aranea chose to move in with her dad. The friendship between Meenah and Aranea had grown even stronger since that point in time, and as seniors, they were determined to have the best year ever.

"Nah, not yet." Meenah shrugged. "You?" They linked arms and walked down the hallway, nodding at passerby.

"I don't think I'll go," Aranea said shyly. "I have schoolwork to focus on. I'm going to visit a college next week, did I tellyou?"

"Yeah, you did, but Ara,  _come on_! You can't miss homecoming. You're a senior for christsakes, you've gotta  _live_!" Meenah playfully shook her by the shoulders, but they both froze at the sound of scuffling down the hall. They looked at each other and took off running, skidding to a stop at the sight of three boys fighting.

"What the  _hell_ is going on here?!" Meenah demanded, and the boys broke apart.

"He started it!" burst a boy on the left, pointing to the mohawk'd kid next to him.

"I did not! That's some messed up shit!" He complained, "These guys were teasing me about my ex, and I hit one! That's alright, ain't it?"

He was long and lanky, even taller than Meenah, and his dark brown mohawk had spiky red tips. A black muscle tank clung to hispecs, and she didn't try to pretend like she wasn't admiring. He flashed her a wink and she cocked her eyebrow back.

"Making fun of his ex, huh? That's messed up." She drawled, "Although hitting him was a dumbass move on your part, dude."

"Um, Meenah." Aranea said quietly, "I'm not entirely sure you should be talking about the morality of making fun of his ex girlfriend."

"And why the hell not?!" She demanded, crossing her arms.

Aranea cleared her throat, and pointed at the mohawk dude. "You're Rufioh, aren't you? Ex boyfriend to Damara Megido?"

Meenah froze and he nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I know our split was crazy uncool, but it sucks that people are saying things about her. She can get over me however she wants."

Meenah gulped and waved away the other two boys, turning away from Rufioh.  _That_ was him?! God, of course he had to be hot. How did meek little Megido get him in the first place? I mean, they'd split 'cuz he'd cheated with Horuss, who she also had no idea why he appealed to Rufioh, but Meenah never imagined that  _this_ was the dude! Or that Rufioh even went to this school!

She and Damara had never really gotten along, and maybe it had started with the rivalry between their mothers. Meenah's mom was the mayor of their town, and ran a very successful line of bakeries. Damara's mother was a famous japanese model, who basically ditched her daughter to go model for more well-known companies, leaving six year old Damara under the care of her stepfather ever since. It was practically law that Megidos and Peixeses didn't get along. The girls met on the first day of kindergarten, and after the mothers made charged glares at each other, each girl was taken aside and expressly warned not to socialize with the other.

They'd been enemies ever since. Before the whole Rufioh situation, Damara had been super quiet, and well-behaved, dressing like a nun and getting perfect scores on her tests. Naturally, Meenah _had_ to make fun of her. After finding out that the prude had actually gotten a boyfriend, she immediately began going out with Cronus. So what if he was a creep who tried to put his tongue all up in her ear? It was worth it to be on the same level as Megido. It was also her duty as a badass Peixes to tease Damara relentlessly, and when word got out that Rufioh was cheating, well, that just added fuel to the fire.

Maybe things would have been different if Meenah knew who Rufioh was back then. She sure as hell did now, and he was  _smokin_ '. However, as a regal Peixes, there was no fuckin' way she'd let herself make a fool of herself over or for him.

"So, you're Rufioh." She nodded, checking him out again. "You're hot, dude."

"Could say the same thing about yourself." He joked back, and Meenah smiled.

"Then you should."

* * *

Dave checked his phone anxiously for a text from Jade. Yeah, he knew she was often late, but half an hour was a little much, and he needed to start walking home.

But they  _always_ walked home together, so there was no way he'd leave yet. It was his favorite part of the day! He got to talk to her uninterrupted, crack jokes, hug her goodbye, and bury his face in her hair.

Of course, he could have done that for the past  _four_ years whenever he wanted, but no, he hadn't been. He chose the 'friend' route, and watched as Jade Harley made his heart her bitch. Goddammit, Strider. Really, did she  _have_ to get so hot? Obviously she was cute when she was twelve, with her pigtails and huge green eyes behind round glasses, but then,  _just_ as he was regretting the decision he'd made  _anyway_ , she grew into her lanky body, got the curves of a fucking supermodel, and god knows what else. Idiot, idiot, idiot!

"Dave!" Jade called, running up to him and clinging to his arm. "Sorry I was late, hehe."

"It's all good," He said calmly, ruffling her hair. She grinned up at him, and shyly, he smiled back.

"So wanna know why?" She asked excitedly.

"Why, what?"

"Why i was late, silly!" She hit him playfully.

"You're always late, Harley." He replied.

"Shut up, I am not!" She said indignantly.

"Uh, yeah, you are."

"It's  _because_ ," she huffed, "I got a boyfriend! He was asking me out by the bike racks. Sooo, I was extra late. Sorry!" She giggled, letting go of his arm.

Dave froze, stopped walking, stopped breathing, and focused on not letting any emotion show on his face.  _You're okay, Strider. You're all good_. "Cool." He said briefly.

"His name is Jason." She prompted, and he just nodded.  _Fucking great. A player. I know who the hell that is._

"Do you know him?"

"I dunno. Heard stuff, I guess. Not much."  _Just that he has parties every weekend and smokes pot. Steals the hearts and virginites of freshman. Fucked an eighth grader once upon a time._ "Just rumors."

"I'm sure you'll like him!" Jade exclaimed, squeezing Dave's hand.

"Yeah."  _Just keep thinking that_.

* * *

_I am Kanaya Maryam, and I am one who listens._

"Hey, Kanaya," Vriska said, sliding into the seat next to her. "What's up?"

_People come to me with their problems, and I must listen, because often, I am the only one who does. It's my job to comfort, to mother, to care over my friends, no matter how broken I feel._

"Hello, Vriska." Kanaya said, putting away the friendship bracelet she was working on. She frowned slightly, looking at her best friend. She hadn't gotten lunch again. "Vriska..." She trailed off.

_They often come to me for advice, although they do not take it. My protests of their well being falls on empty ears. My attempts at loving are shoved off, and labeled as 'worrying', 'meddling', or 'fussing'. 'Overreacting', most say. It's a lonely life to lead, with too much love that goes unheard. Ignored._

"It's no biggie." Vriska said, waving a hand nonchalantly. "I needed to make up for eating so much yesterday anyway. S'all good, Kan-kan."

"Vris! Kan!" Jessica, a friend of Vriska's, also on the cheerleading squad, sat down with her scant lunch, grinning ear to ear. "I missed you!"

"You literally saw me yesterday." Vriska responded jokingly. "How's Mike?"

Jessi's eyes practically turned into hearts. "He's great. Perfect. The other day we were on Skype chat, right?"

_People come to me to gush about their relationships. Everyone has someone else, and it doesn't matter if they're just friends or true love, I feel as if I have no one. I know it isn't true, but I'm lonely anyway. I feel ungrateful, but also unloved._

"How's your tumblr going?" Jessica mumbled through her smoothie.

"Oh, it's fine." Kanaya replied, and she said nothing else for the rest of lunch.

_That's how it goes, right? I'm asked enough to be included. Am I just a brat? Do I not realize the lovely life I've been given? If so, please, won't someone help me? Is there a way for me to feel important? Or would it really not matter if I were to-_

"Hey." A warm grip on her wrist sent Kanaya whirling around to meet Vriska's cobalt blue gaze. "What's wrong? You're  _thinking_."

Vriska didn't care about too many people, except a few girls from her squad, and her sister, and the knowledge that Kanaya was one of those people never failed to warm her heart.  _No. Someone would care_.

"Last time I checked, thinking was a good thing to do." She retorted cheerfully. "I'm fine, really. Are you?"

She shrugged. "My mom and I got into another fight. It wasn't too bad. I just stormed off."

"Again?" Kanaya murmured softly. Vriska simply nodded, and her throat closed off. Why couldn't people be happy? Why did bad things have to happen to people who didn't deserve it? And why were these people so misunderstood? Why did horrible people call Vriska a bitch? What about Aradia, the girl Vriska had tormented? did people every think about what was happening to her? Tavros, who Vriska was still tormenting? Whose side could she be on, if everyone had faults, if everyone she loved had a horrible side?

Maybe such thoughts were better suited for her tumblr blog.

Vriska linked arms with her, making Kanaya smile. "Lighten up Kandy korn." Vriska teased, "Don't worry about it. It's just life. Be happy for once, and stop trying to save the world."

"So you can rule it?" She retaliated.

"Maaaaaaaaybe." Vriska cackled, "Let's go shopping after practice or some shit like that. Give you something to blog about!"

"Okay."

 


	8. Chapter 8

"You two are  _dating_?" Nepeta squealed, wriggling so much that Equius physically had to turn his head away, blushing brightly.

"W-we're not  _together_ ," Tavros stuttered shyly, looking down at his legs, "It was just a date."

"Did he kiss you?" She asked eagerly, leaning forward off of Equius's lap. It was kind of comical to watch the bigmuscley dude get so flustered by his girlfriend, who was two years younger and _tiny_. Fierce, but tiny.

"Yeesss?" He squeaked, and she tackled him in a hug, squishing his cheeks.

"Knew it!" She crowed, and wrapped her arms back around Equius's neck, kissing him on the cheek. "I was right." He nodded, and ruffled her short brown hair. "So, it was a  _date_ , but you're not _dating_. Yet. Got it."

Tavros was about to nod, but a kiss on the cheek cut him off, turning him a spectacular shade of red. He craned his neck behind him to see a widely grinning Gamzee, whose bushy hair fell over his left eye in a huge tangle. He was back in his pajama pants and t-shirts, and a sliver of his taut stomachwas exposed.

"Heyyy guys," he said cheerfully, "Wassup?"

Equius just stared, almost reverently, and whispered something in Nepeta's ear about him being able to bench press three hundred pounds. A smirk began to grow on her face as she flicked her gaze back and forth from Gamzee to Tavros, and Tavros grew anxious.

"Why, hello there, Gamzee. Nice to meet you." She cooed, mouth curling up in a smile, a smile that clearly translated to 'You kissed my friend hello. I knew what's up."

 _Oh please don't do anything embarrassing_. Tavros prayed.

"Oh yeah, you're Nepeta, right? Equius told me all about you when we were in weights." He took her hand and kissed it, making her tinge pink, and gave a sup nod to Equius, who said nothing, as per usual. He turned to Tavros, smiling at him and kissing his hand too. "How did you sleep, Tavbro?"

"I, I, I, um, w-well, I, I guess, o-okaay?" He was stuttering like he never had before, and his heart was racing.  _Calm down Tavros... Calm down..._ "I-I slept okay. What...about you?"

"Great," Gamzee slurred, still holding his hand. "We better get to class, right? There's a couple of minutes left."

"Yup, you two had better get going!" Nepeta trilled, practically vibrating from excitement. Gamzee nodded slowly, and Tavros gripped the wheels on his wheelchair as they made their way to class.

What on earth did this mean?

* * *

"Latula. I know up until recently, you've always been with Mituna. Wait, no, that's a horrible start, not to mention incredibly triggering, if she'd still upset about him. That's the  _last_ thing I want to do, trigger her." Kankri crumpled up the paper, worn out from too many eraser marks, and neatly tossed it in his recycle bin. "We've been the best of friends since I can remember, but I must admit I've considered- No, that's bad too." He furiously erased, crinkling the paper.

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel in person?" Porrim had suggested during her weekly phone call home from college. She'd graduated early, and was now head of a very successful LGBTQ club on campus. A raging feminist, that was his little sister. Well, 'little' by a year. He went to college too, but it was only a half hour away from home, so that's where he stayed.

"Because," He'd insisted, "I'd mess it up."

Hence, writing it down. But even with the mountains of paper in his recycle bin, he couldn't find the right words. Everything was too pretentious, too wordy.

Maybe the truth was that he was scared to be rejected. Naturally he would be. Why would Latula Pyrope, a senior finishing her last year of highschool hell, want to be tied to a babbling dork who majored in Poli-Sci and still lived with his parents? Even Mituna, an eighteen year old  _still in sophmore year_ was better than Kankri Vantas, and poor Kanny knew it. Maybe he should just shut up about his feelings altogether. He needed to learn how to shut up anyway, he knew full well nobody cared.

A ring on his doorbell startled him, and he straightened his oversize red sweater, one of the many Porrim kept sending home for him, before opening the door to reveal Latula.

"Hey! Gawd, it's cold out. It's only September, like, what the what?" She hugged him tightly, and he squeaked, turning bright red to match his sweater. "Ooh, you're warm."

"L-L-Latula! Could you maybe  _please_ get off of me?!" He stammered, and she looked up to pout at him.

"Aww, okay." She teased, fake punching him in the shoulder. "You're no fun, Kan-Kan."

"I know." He responded gloomily, and she quirked a confused eyebrow at him before whipping out two slips of paper from her pocket. "Latula, what are those?"

"It maaaybe just so happens that a certain gamer girl hottie got passes to a rollerskating rink," She cooed, "And it's  _definitely_ so happens that she's making her best buddy go with her, even though he can't skate be worth a flying flip."

"Is that me? Are you talking about me? Because I find that highly offensive, as not all of us can 'skate' or do such 'radical' tricks, like you." He retorted, and inwardly hit himself. He just couldn't stop, could he? He had to be an idiot at every given opportunity.

"Well, no, you can't. But it's cute!" Latula said, grinning at him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. "You won't make me skate alone, right?"

* * *

"Did you turn your assignments in?" Vriska's mother asked, as her daughter pulled out a granola bar.

"Yeah, mom." She replied scathingly, pocketing the bar.

"Then why hasn't the grade site updated? And take some more food! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"That's bullshit."

" _Vriska Marie Serket_! No swearing! I get it if that's how you spend your time at cheerleading, but I won't put up with this at home," Her mom snapped, adjusting her running shorts. "Your grades are not so hot, and if they get worse, I'll take you off the squad."

"And leave me at home while you run with Errrrrrrric?" Vriska scoffed, "Not likely. You didn't even run before him, stop pretending to be fit to impress your stupid boyfriend. Also, stop pretending like you actually care about me, or my grades. You just don't want me to ruin your reputation, don't you? I could be so much worse than I am, don't forget that."

She stormed out, crunching her granola bar under her foot. Her stomach growled angrily, but She slapped herself hard on the abdomen, teeth bared in a snarl. She didn't _need_ to eat! She was stronger than her primal human desires. The walk to school was fierce, and she kicked every branch in her path. A familiar wheelchair sat outside the cafeteria, and an evil smirk grew on her lips. Sure, she felt pretty bad for making fun of people, of Aradiaand Tavros, but she hated them.  _Hated_ those stupid optimists. Why were they so  _happy_? She had to make them just as miserable as she was.

Naturally, when she found out what Aradia had tried to do to herself, she tried to apologize, but Aradia punched her so hard she was on the bench during practice for a week. She would have stopped teasing Tavros, but then what outlet would she have to be angry? She'd take it out on  _herself,_ and Vriska would simply not allow that. There had to be sacrifices. Aren't all famous people bullied at one point? She could have been doing him a favor! So, really, her actions weren't  _that_ despicable, right?

"Oh, Tavros?" She simpered, and he strained his neck to turn and look at her.

"Uh, h-hi," He said quietly, and she frowned.

"Why aren't you more scared of me? Are you  _finally_ taking a stand? Dumb move, perfect for a dumbass! Shoulda known." She mockingly shook her head, snickering.

"P-please leve me alone," he mumbled, trying to stay firm, "I don't, um, need people like you... In my life."

Vriska threw her head back, cackling manically. "Oh, poor widdle baby Tavvy! Don't be more of an idiot than you already are, dumbass. I'm not going away. You're stuck with me, asshole!" Continuing to laugh, she pushed the door, going into the cafeteria.

_If I'm saddled with myself, so is everybody else._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Possible trigger about sex. Just skip to JohnRose if you don't wanna read that.** _

Meulin Leijon wiped off the remains of last night's eyeliner, messily smudging it into the panda bear rings that ran to her high cheekbones. Reapply. She sniffed, and tried to comb through the knots in her dark brown hair, but it was a lost cause. Post sex hair was always the worst. She looked towards the mirror, littered with scraps of paper, covered in scribbled phone numbers and fading lipstick kisses.

The bed, as usual after one of their 'appointments', was empty, and a small stack of money lay on the nighttable, bound with purple string. Meulin sighed in relief, stuffing the hundreds in the pocket of her black sweatshirt. That was rent for the next month, money to house and protect her and her little sister.

Meulin had struck up this bargain with Kurloz Makara about two years ago, when she was seventeen and her parents died in a car crash. She turned eighteen a few months later, so the money from the government stopped coming, and although Nepeta was kept in the dark, Meulin was worrying like crazy. Desperate, she remembered a party she'd gone to a while back, a conversation she'd had with some random girl who was 'working' for a guy named Kurloz. At sixteen, that was enough information, and although Meulin and the girl traded phone numbers, they never spoke.

But the money was gone, and nobody would hire a girl for enough money and convoluted hours who had dropped out of high school, even if it was because she suddenly became an orphan. She had Nepeta to take care of! So she gave a furtive glance at her house phone and the list of numbers she wrote on the wall, and dialed the girl.

Kurloz Makara was a goddamn millionaire who was creepy as hell. Attractive, but creepy. If you 'provided a service', as the girl put it, he'd pay you. It was merely a formality to put it like that, the 'services' were sex, and blowjobs only paid so much. Meulin did was she had to do to protect Nepeta.

And now, here she stood in front of his mirror, in trashy leopard print lingerie.  _It could be worse,_ she always thought to herself,  _everybody in his litttle gang uses protection, no one's abusive, he doesn't scratch me up. Really, I'm better off than a lot of girls that end up like this!_

She pulled on her skirt and buttoned up her shirt, pulling her sweatshirt over it. Kurloz wouldn't be there, he never was the morning after, so like always, she'd be expected to take her money and see herself out. There were cameras everywhere, so there was no point in trying to snoop around or steal anything. Although she was very curious about where he went and all of his dirty little secrets, it was more important to go home and make pancakes so Nepeta would have breakfast before school.

In their tiny, cheap-ass apartment, there was one bedroom, a couch, a table, a kitchen, four chairs, a bathroom, and several bookshelves, stuffed to the brim with books. Normally Meulin would leave at ten forty-five at night, fifteen minutes after Nepeta said goodnight, and retreat to Kurloz's mansion, locking the door behind her and leaving a note saying she was away, but would be back soon. However, she always got home before six-thirty a.m., when her sleepy sister would drag herself out of bed. Meulin didn't think she'd ever understand where her big sister went at night.

It was probably best to stay that way.

* * *

John pulled at his blue necktie, and wondered again  _why_ all the parties Rose's mom threw had to be formal. Ms. Lalonde was just as regal as Rose, and she loved being around his flighty broads, but he  _hated-_

_Hated_

Wearing neckties. Thank god his dad let him wear jeans with his black suit jacket and white button-up. If he had to wear dress pants for a  _cocktail party,_ he would go apeshit.

As usual, two seconds after arriving, Dad was swept away by Mom Lalonde, who purred that he looked great. The pair would stroll off and sip (or glug, in Mom Lalonde's case) martinis. Of course, the usual question would arise, "Are you two...?" by a random guest, and they'd shake their heads, but Dad would look at her out of the corner of his eyes, gazing like she radiated sunlight and warmth.

John supposed he and his father were just hopelessly in love with Lalondes. Oh well. There were plenty of worse things to be afflicted with than love.

Er. He hoped.

"John, you came." Rose said, her hand wrapping around his wrist like a bracelet. "Hello."

"Hi Rose! Of course I did, we always do." He hugged her hello, letting himself breathe in the scent of lilies for a brief second before pulling back. "You look great!"

It was true. Her blond hair was twisted up in a sort of bun, which he would later google and find out was a chignon, and small, sparkly earrings dangled from her lobes, catching the light. Her dress was pale purple, her favorite color, and ended a bit before her knees, with long, draping sleeves. Her opaque white tights twinkled in a sharp contrast to her black flats, and she positively glowed. He felt incredibly inadequate in comparison.

In fact, she looked very similar to her mother, except her mom's dress was bubblegum pink and long, with a much lower neckline than John would have been able to handle on Rose. His father was a man of strong will, that was for sure.

"I'm glad you did, we appear to be the only people our age in attendance." She replied. "And thank you. I invited Dave and Jade, but Jade had a date, and you know Strider..."

"He didn't want to go without her." John finished, smiling. Strider was whipped good. Actually, both boys were, but it was probably more difficult for Dave  _don't take off the shades, be cool at all times, fuck, she looked at me_ Strider.

"Precisely. Do you want to go upstairs? If we stay, adults are going to try and talk to us." Rose suggested, and John took a last look at his father, chatting with Rose's mom on the staircase, before nodding, and letting her take his hand. She led him up another winding staircase, and to her room, where he immediately ran to the huge window.

"Whoa, there's so many people this year," He marveled, and she nodded wordlessly, shuffling her feet and staring at him with her crystalline lilac gaze, wise and all-knowing. "What?"

"You look good also." She remarked, and he blushed.

"I dress fancy for this thing every year," He protested. "What's different?"

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but changed her mind and motioned towards her laptop. "Would you like to watch Netflix?"

"Way to change the subject, Rose." He teased, but sat belly down on her bed anyway. The multitude of science fiction and murder mystery shows she loved flooded into view as the screen loaded, and she scrolled down to National Treasure, opening credits sending light over their faces.

Even though it was one of his favorite movies, John just couldn't concentrate on it. He kept looking to his left, to where Rose lay, chin propped up on her hands and eyes closely trained on the screen. of course, if John had looked at her for longer than a few seconds, he would have made eye contact with her, because Rose was looking at him out of the corner of her eye too.

The time passed fast, and even at ten-forty, it was obvious the party would go on for quite some time. Rose slid off her bed, stretching, and she looked so beautiful in the white light from the laptop that John felt a sudden strong urge to kiss her, or maybe just to brush a strand of blonde hair out from in front of her eyes. She turned back around, and they stared at each other for a moment, hearts pounding, maybe even stopping, until she snapped out of whatever thoughts were captivating her, and flicked on the light.

"Do you want to go outside? She asked, holding her hand out for him to take. "Do you want to look at the stars?"

* * *

Sollux sighed, rolling his eyes before groaning and pushing himself off his couch to answer the door, which had previously rung shrilly. The Matrix, one of his favorite movies was playing on the tv, and a bowl of chex mix covered in honey sat at a haphazard lean, threatening to spill. He was totally and completely prepared for a Saturday night in, but whoever the  _hell_ was ringing had other plans. Most likely it was Aradia, bearing marshmallows and Mario. She tended to nag him about staying inside on his laptop so much, especially alone.

"What do you want?" He rasped, opening the door, and immediately getting a face full of yellow roses.

"Go on a date with me!" Eridan shouted, turning redder with every word. His hair was slicked back like a model's, and he was wearing all black with a deep violet bowtie. In one hand he held the bouquet he shoved in Sollux's face, and in the other was a huge, heart-shaped box of chocolates. His pale, freckled skin practically gleamed in the dimming twilight, and he almost looked like an angel.

In comparison, Sollux's hair, unbrushed, naturally, pointed every which way. He was in boxers, and his black t-shirt had stains on it from cold pizza that had been his breakfast after a long night of coding. He hadn't planned on going outside at all until Monday morning.

"You want me to  _what?"_ He asked flatly.

"G-go...on a date with me." Eridan paused. "Please."

"Eridan, I'm in my boxers." He gestured down. "And I'm not wearing shoes."

"I brought you fuckin' flowers, you ungrateful asshole." Eridan snapped, "Wear your boxers for all I care. All I want to do is be with you...idiot." He looked down shyly, turning an even brighter shade of red, if that was possible.

"You'd take me out in boxers." Sollux repeated disbelievingly. He retreated into his house, pulling on two different colored sneakers and walking back out. "Alright. Date me tonight."

A huge grin broke out on Eridan's face, and he softly took Sollux's hand, leading him to his vintage cruiser. They made a comical couple, with Eridan in his fancy dress clothes and he looking about as disheveled as his dignity would allow.

Of course, if Sollux had realized how fancy of a restaurant Eridan was taking him to, he would have given pants more thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, I know, but I'm back! And hopefully there will be another chapter posted in a little bit. I dropped this story for the longest time, and rereading it, I've realized a lot of stuff I wrote was complete idiotic bullshit. Also that my chapters need to be waaaay longer, and a lot of stuff that goes with the revising process, but oh well. I hope to continue this story, and I hope you guys like it, blah blah blah. I love you. Review please?
> 
> Also I think I'm looking for someone to edit the chapters before I post them. If anyone wants to volunteer as tribute, shoot me a message or something, kay? Byeeee.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Mild abuse tw; just skip Damara's part if it is not a good thing for you to read.** _

Damara always spent more time putting on concealer after her stepfather went on one of his rampages. Sometimes to cover up bruises, faded redness, things like that, other times to mask the dark circles under her eyes from late night studying he forced her to do as punishment. She often wondered why exactly he focused on grades, why he even bothered to have her be prim and perfect all the time. There was nothing for him to gain from her 'good reputation' or if her scores were top of the class. He just forced her into perfection for no reason, and usually by the time she finished putting on concealer she'd ran through her habitual thoughts. Never enough time in the day to think about the situation any further. Not that she wanted to. A clear, concise answer would chase away the last warm dregs of hope, and without hope what was left of her heart would freeze into ice. Although no one cared about her heart anyway, why bother worrying over its fate when she would be the only one to notice the loss?

" _Damara_!"

Time for school.

She'd stopped caring about her appearance about a month after the split, and concealer was all she bothered to put on at home. The rest would be caked on during the bus ride, something to occupy her time so she didn't think about why no one talked to her. Also...she just couldn't muster up the effort, the strength to care. Not in the mornings, and barely on the bus. But it would crush her dignity for the bitches at school to see her without makeup. 'Beauty', even though it was technically a facade, she believed, was the best armor she could have clad herself in. 'Anger', although she was broken and crying on the inside, was a formidable defense for anyone who suspected otherwise behind the makeup. Much better than happy, which was always a sham, and better for someone whose emotions were plain on her face, because if she snapped at anyone whose curiosity won over her pariah, they'd recoil and she wasn't bothered.

Makeup done, eyes fiercely lined with thick black smears, and she still had five minutes left on the bus. To what? What for? No one to talk to, just a window to stare out of, and plenty of room to stretch her legs out because no one dared sit with her. Counting the seconds, counting the rows of seats, listening to the conversations around her. Pathetic drama.

Pathetic Damara.

Off the bus.  _Routine_. Down the hallway.  _Routine, routine_. Click open the lock on her steel gray locker.  _Routine, routine, routi-_

"Hey, Damara."

"What?" She said flatly, turning around with eyes narrowed.

"Heyyy." He repeated, imitating her monotone.

"What do you want, Cronus?" She said, turning back and pulling her books out of her locker.

"Well,  _first_ , I want you to say hi back." He crooned, carefully patting his gelled hair. Damara almost wanted to measure the slope of the triangle it was spiked into.

"Hi." She said dryly, slamming the door to her locker.  _I thought I'd gotten rid of this asshole!_  "Next?"

"I'm going to walk you to class," He drawled, grinning so the white points of his teeth gleamed.

"Um, no, you're not." She retorted, stalking off to math. He said nothing, just kept smirking and walking next to her. He was so tall that he kept up easily, no matter how furiously or fast she speed-walked.  _Augh! This was why I ditched him at the coffee shop! Just an egotistical jerk, they're all just egotistical jerks. I'm so done with this_.

"Let me know when you're done being...What's the word? It's a Japanese thing, I just know it. Tsun..?"

"I'm not being  _tsundere_ ," She snapped, "I just hate you."

"But why?" He whined, pouting like a little kid. "What did I do?"

"I've heard things. Besides, I hate everybody, don't take it personally. I don't like people, they're assholes. You're an asshole. I don't like you. See? Makes sense, right? I. Don't. Like. You! Have I got it through your head now, maybe?" She rolled her eyes, clutching her books tighter.

"You know what I think?" He said, voice getting quieter, more serious. Actually serious.

He was met with silence.

"I think the person you hate the most is yourself. Just saying."

She froze, heart hammering. "N-not true!" She spluttered, heavily blushing and glowering at him.

"I also think this is your class. Bye, Damara."

* * *

"Latula, I look ridiculous." Kankri complained, rubbing his arms. She'd managed to coax him out of his sweatshirt, so all he had on was a thin white t-shirt and jeans. Although he incessantly bitched about the sweatshirts Porrim always sent him, he'd gotten so used to wearing them that if he was ever without it, he was  _freezing_.

"Of course you do. You're standing all stiff!" She prodded him in the side and he squawked, flailing. "Good!"

" _Latula!_ " He said indignantly. "This is so triggering."

"Oh, whatever!" She giggled, taking his hands and pulling him onto the rink floor. Couples skated by them, hands tightly intertwined, and little kids were tugged along by their parents. "C'mon Kanny. Have a little fun! Let go! For me?"

 _For me_.

Jesus christ, he would have been fine if she hadn't said that. Perfectly content to be 'stiff'. But no, now he found himself relaxing and pushing off with one foot, trying to skate.

Trying to impress her. Dammit!

"You're a natural!" She laughed, "You expect me to believe you've never done this? Bull!"

"Language!" he called, craning his neck to look back at her. However, he wasn't looking where he was going, and crashed hard into a wall, falling over himself in a tangle of limbs. He huffed, using his outstretch palms to push himself up, but Latula zoomed over, and caught one of his hands, pulling him up. She was definitely way stronger than she looked. They both stood, and Kankri stared transfixedly into her eyes.

She hadn't let go of his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is such shitty writing. Why do you guys even like this? Honestly I'm just trying to post the stuff I wrote way back in December so I can write the way I write now. Which is hopefully not this shitty. Goddamn. Well, here you guys go. Hope you enjoy it, I guess. I've also rebooted my fanfic See You Never, and rewritten the first chapter. Hopefully I'll rewrite the second chapter of it soon, and then I'll start posting regular chapters of it. So hopefully you guys will read that too? Pleasie please please?


	11. Chapter 11

_**tw I suppose for mild abuse themes in Tavros' part.** _

Tavros didn't think he had a self-esteem problem. His self-esteem problem was so bad that he didn't think he had one, just assumed he deserved it. This was the extent to which Vriska Serket had fucked him up. When all she had to say was 'you're stuck with me', and he'd start hyperventilating. There was nothing to stand up to. He  _deserved_ it. Deserved it, deserved all the memories and torment she'd given him. It was acceptance at this point, really. He  _knew_ he was useless. What was the point of fighting it anymore, fighting her?

He remained frozen in front of the school doors, eyes wide open, beginning to water, and breath huffing in and out, chest rising shallowly. Terrified.

"Tav?" Gamzee said softly, coming up from behind him, and placing a hand on his shoulder. What time was it? Gamzee didn't come to school until five minutes after the bell rang. Had the bell rung? Had he seen him sitting frozen? Had he heard Vriska? "Tav, are you okay?"

 _Yes, I'm okay_ , he wanted to say, but he couldn't move. Couldn't speak. His heart pounded against his rib cage, filling his chest and throat. Vriska's face swam in front of his eyes, and cackled. _Stuck with me stuck with me stuck with me_. Memories of her pushing him over, poking the tips of safety pins into his shoulders, blocking hallways, somehow making any food he received at school super spicy so he couldn't eat it, cooing bitter words of poison into his ears, while holding his wheels so he couldn't leave-

 _"Tavros!_ " Gamzee snapped, and Tavros jumped, blinking for the first time in...a while. Gamzee. Gamzee was here now. And he looked...angry.

"G-g-g-gamzee," He whispered out, "Hi."

"Hi." Gamzee repeated dumbly. "That's it? You've been sitting here, staring at nothing for god knows how motherfucking long, scaring the  _shit_ out of me, and you say  _hi_?!"

He nodded, still unable to form coherent sentences. There was nothing he could say. Gamzee probably didn't really like him, right? There was no way. Gamzee was cool and slouchy, and Tavros was just an asshole in a wheelchair, like his subconcious so often boasted to him.

Surely that thought justified him sitting in silence as Gamzee rolled his eyes and stomped past him into the school.

* * *

Aradia was woken by the buzz of a text from her phone, making her nightstand vibrate. Her digital clock read 10:42, about the end of second period. She'd overslept.

Oh well.

The text was from Feferi, asking where she was. Vaguely, Aradia recalled that she was supposed to pick up her girlfriend that morning, and drive both of them to school. Guess she hadn't.

_sorry_

She pulled herself out of bed like molasses, like she had to unpeel herself from the sheets. Already in sweats, she figured putting a shirt on over her bra was a moot point, and yanked on a sweatshirt over her head instead. Makeup was useless now, she had more important priorities. Like breakfast, and the remains of morning cartoons. One bowl of cereal. Two bowls of cereal. Couple of doughnuts. Bacon and sausage. Some over-easy eggs. Perfect.

She strolled into school at 12:32, and went to lunch three minutes later.

"Where have you been?" Feferi asked angrily, arms crossed. Aradia shrugged.

"Slept in."

"You couldn't have texted me to say you couldn't pick me up? I was late because of you!" Feferi did wear an awful lot of makeup, didn't she? Aradia remembered seeing the boxes of powders and pencils, stuff that she spent hours on and ended up looking basically the same. What was up with that?

"Sorry," Aradia said, sliding up in the lunch line and loading her plate up with pizza. "School's not even that important anyway."

"It is to me! I want to get into Stanford,  _remember_?" Feferi protested, "You  _know_ how I feel about school, what the hell, Aradia!"

Aradia did know how Feferi felt about school. She was so anal about it too, and behind her layers of apathy, she was beginning to get pissed off. Go to Stanford, because she was fucking rich and she could. If Aradia had that much damn money, she'd use it to buy a nice house for her and her mom, and heat that stayed on all the time. Sure, they were better off than they had been,  _way_ better off, but seeing Feferi waste all her money on stupid fancy colleges and makeup made her boil with rage.

"Whatever, you don't need a scholarship or anything,  _remember_?" She fired back. They walked away from the line, and Feferi grabbed her arm.

"Excuse me?" Her voice was shrill, and Aradia could feel heads turning.

"You're freaking out over nothing, Fef," She sighed.

"What did you mean?" The tan girl asked again. "Tell me what you meant!"

"Fine!" Aradia exploded, "I mean you've got a lot of fucking money. Why do you bother trying so hard in school when your parents could buy you into anywhere? It's ridiculous."

_What am I doing? Why am I saying these things? This is my girlfriend, this is Feferi. Stop!_

"So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat my damn pizza that I'll have to work to pay for." Aradia flounced away, the feelings of 'what am I doing?' replaced by apathy, as usual. She'd deal with what she fucked up tomorrow.

* * *

_**another trigger warning if u don't like sex references n stuff.** _

The rules in Kurloz's harem were simple. You wore your shortest shorts, tallest heels, and an extra low tank tops. Brownie points if your bra was visible. You went to his parties, shut the fuck up, and eventually he'd give you a lazy grin. Take his hand, smile coyly, and pull him into his bedroom. One fucking later, he'd leave, you'd sleep, and wake up with a neat stack of money.

Everyone fell asleep afterwards. No one quite knew why, actually. A few girls had a running bet that there were sedatives in his cum, a couple others speculated that he was secretly a wizard, and cast evil spells on them. Meulin believed none of the above, preferred to enjoy the extra sleep she got. Easy money, laying on your back. And she never had nightmares...

Rumors were how the harem bonded. None about themselves obviously, but about their precious lord and master. Secrets about Kurloz Makara were traded like playing cards. Everyone had their own headcanons in their little business, and if he knew, he never let on. Too busy collecting more desperate girls to suck him off, probably.

In another life, she thought she might respect him. He was very charming after all, and handsome. Rich. But she knew him now, and she'd end up brokenhearted if she'd ever fallen for him.

Better to stay smart.

The rest of the rules you learned over time. Don't drink anything, only sleep with Kurloz, and don't puke. The last one was laughable, but he took it quite seriously. He'd put you out of work for a whole month.

Dude liked his carpets.

"Meulin," Nepeta asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh! Um, nothing, Nepeta." Meulin smiled cheerfully. She should have known better than to space out during breakfast. Nepeta noticed if she was in another world, always had. Their parents joked she'd gotten it from them.

Maybe if they hadn't spaced out so much, they wouldn't have drifted into oncoming traffic.

"Equius is coming to get me today," Nepeta mumbled through a mouthful of waffle.

"That's not surprising!" Meulin laughed. "He picks you up every morning, right?"

Nepeta nodded, smiling to herself. They'd been together for years now. Best friends to the very end, romantic partners until they inevitably got married. Meulin was a little jealous of her little sister.

"So." Nepeta said, mouthing curling up in a mischevious smile.

"So..?" Meulin asked confusedly, quirking an eyebrow. That smile was for shipping. She knew that smile. She  _had_ that smile.

"Where've you been going every night, big sister?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: everyone is a moody bitch and fights with their s.o. because little miss author got dumped and her ex has a new gf so she hates couples everywhere lol sorry  
> ahahahaha ugh. review pls, convince me that it wasn't terrible. aslksdfj eventually it'll get better i promise. *cries*


	12. Chapter 12

He'd done it. Eridan had actually asked Sollux out on a date. He, Eridan Ampora, had fought through his jelly legs and butterflies and asked Sollux Captor, the guy who hated basically everyone out on a date, and he had said yes. They were going on an actual date, right now.

Holy shit.

Sure, he had to do a lot of googling to make sure he was doing it right, he watched Grease five thousand times to see how dates worked, he'd even read wikihows. Eridan fully intended to stride to his door, smoothly hand him the flowers and chocolate, and take his hand and lead him into the sunset.

It didn't exactly go like that. I mean, when Eridan imagined the scenario, Sollux was at least wearing pants, but it worked enough for Sollux to actually agree to go. They sat in the purple suzuki Eridan had begged his dad to let him borrow, with Sollux flipping through the radio channels.

"They're playing shit," He frowned, clicking impatiently.

"I've got cd's," Eridan suggested, gesturing to the backseat. There was a thick black case that Sollux grabbed, full of neatly labeled cd's, all safely encased in plastic slips.

"Whoa, did you burn all of these?" Sollux asked incredulously. It was the first time he'd ever heard the condescending twat-waffle seem impressed by something.

"Uh, yeah," Eridan said proudly, "They're all my mixes. Very specific too, I pride myself on-"

"You have a 'me' mix," Sollux raised his eyebrows and slid a cd into the player, smiling faintly as the sound of We the Kings filled the car.

"I-" Shit. He'd forgotten he'd even had the Sollux mix in the car, normally he fell asleep to it. There was the creeping feeling that Feferi put it in the case on purpose, knowing Eridan almost never listened to the radio. "I, um...yes? I do?" Oh god he could feel himself blushing.

"I told you about this song." Sollux murmured. "During lunch, right? You were complaining that you didn't know any good songs, or something."

"That's right," Eridan said in surprise, "That was three years ago. How do you still remember that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's a good song. Where're we going anyway?"

"To dinner," Eridan smiled, "To Olive Garden. Then to the movies, maybe see the new Stephen Hawking movie."

"Seen it." Sollux snickered.

"What?! How?" he exclaimed, "Fuck man, you're seriously disrupting my plans!"

"I downloaded it, duh." Sollux was snickering like crazy, chuffing air out his nose. "Sorry, not sorry."

"Whatever. What about...um...that nerd movie with Benedict Cumberbatch?"

"You realize he's basically killed and arrested at the end of that movie for being gay, right? What a great movie for our very gay date." Sollux quirked an eyebrow and Eridan growled under his breath.

"Spoiler alert much? God. First of all, I'm pansexual," He sniffed haughtily, "And second, if you're going to veto every movie I suggest, why don't you pick one?"

"Finally. Home."

"What in fresh fuck is that?"

"It's this animated shit with Rihanna. The animation is fucking brilliant, it gives me such a tech boner. And it has the guy from Big Bang Theory, if you needed any more prompting."

"Sheldon?" Eridan perked up."

"Yeah, that dude. Keep your pants on, fanboy. You wanna see it?" He cracked a smile, revealing his pointy canines.

"O'course!" Eridan grinned, pulling into a very crowded parking lot. "It should be occurring to you any second that you should have put pants on."

Sollux gulped. It was a Saturday night at an Olive Garden, and god was he stupid. It was packed tighter than a stereotypical teenage girl's dresser! He reluctantly got out of the car, and accepted Eridan's hand, held high like he was a fuckin' princess or something. "Is escorting me to the damn door necessary?"

"Absolutely." Eridan was smirking now, but he was also excited. Date date date. The girl at the "table of whateverthefuck" podium certainly gave Sollux a once over, maybe even a twice over, but when Eridan frowned a bit and squeezed Sollux's hand, she looked away. They were shuttled through the restaurant, zoomed past the gawking children, and Eridan was practically dying of laughter by now. He burst into high pitched giggles the second they were tossed in a corner booth, and Sollux promptly turned the brightest shade of red either one of them had ever seen.

"Shut up," He hissed, "Aren't you supposed to be all gentlemanly? You're doing a terrible fuckin' job."

Eridan sobered up immediately, but snorted a couple more times, every time he looked at his date's blushing face, hiding behind his menu. This night, although not going according to plan, was going great.

* * *

Nepeta Leijon really loved Equius. Sure, he was a bit of a sweaty meathead sometimes, but she loved him anyway. She loved him regardless of everyone telling her he was a douchebag, or annoying, or haughty, or obstinate, opinionated, ignorant, or a jerk. Well, she supposed he could be sometimes, but couldn't everybody? Didn't everyone have the sides to them where they were rude or immature or insecure? The only thing that mattered to her was that he was nice to the people she loved, and herself. In that respect, he was a total sweetheart, even if she had to correct him on some idiotic things once in a while.

In a way, it was almost too easy to love him. Love poured out of every pore she had when he crossed her thoughts. Those warm eyes he had, the deepest blue that she got lost in every time he was around, the voice that flowed from his mouth, his soft, curved mouth that she knew so well now, the voice that woke her up in the morning with a brush of a lock of hair out of her face. He was so deeply a part of her life, ingrained like a tree root in the ground that wouldn't be blown down, not by the strongest of storms.

She wiped the beads of sweat off her brow, tired out from wrestling practice. As per usual, she'd pinned her opponents, thanks to Equius's great training and her tireless work ethic, but she'd also been used as a practice target for newer recruits, which wasn't exactly comfortable. She was covered in bruises and sore muscles.

Ducking his head, Equius walked through the gym door, and Nepeta squealed, launching herself into his hair, giggling. He swung her around and she kissed him on the cheek while she was high enough in the air to reach his face.

"Where're we going today, Equius?" She asked cheerfully, as he handed her a strawberry smoothie. "Ellipticals? Pool?"

They always worked out together at the local gym, Nepeta to crush her wrestling opponents, and Equius because he liked being muscular. She could still remember him in sixth grade, skinny and gangly, embarrassed because his voice changed early. They'd met in kindergarten, when Nepeta beat up making fun of Equius for sweating nervously when the teacher called on him, and when Equius beat up someone making fun of Nepeta for being a 'tomboy', respectively. They were a match made in heaven ever since they realized that they could hang out together and kiss while simultaneously kicking ass.

"I was, er, actually thinking about dinner?" He smiled bashfully, "I know you love pizza."

"And you, ya big goof!" Nepeta bubbled over with energy. Normally Equius was pretty strict on diet, he fully supported her dream of being a champion wrestler, but every once in a while, he would go lax and treat her. "I'd love to."

Equius only blushed, and took her hand, leading her to her car. She loved her huge goofy boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i'm alive. I would have typed/posted this eons ago, except I lost the written pages, eheheheh. It's still not as long as I'd like the chapters to be, but I'm sick so I don't feel like making it any longer. Feedback please, I love you guys.


	13. Chapter 13

"W-w-what do you mean?" Meulin asked nervously, heart beating fast. She didn't know. She couldn't know. She'd been  _so careful_! Or had she? Did she leave the door unlocked? Was her note too up in the air?

"You've been out every night!" Nepeta giggled delightedly, "Come on, what's their name?"

"Their...name..?" Did she know what her big sister was doing to pay the bills? To admit to her sort of stripper status would be  _humiliating_ , not to mention a  _really bad idea_. What if Nepeta wanted to help? What if she quit school to get a real job to help? No way, Meulin wouldn't let it happen!

"You've obviously got a secret fling going on!" She exclaimed, a wide grin breaking across her face. "And you've just  _got_ to let me in on it! It's probably the cutest thing I've ever heard of."

Oh no. Meulin floundered for words, gesturing wildly. "Eheheheheh, well, you see...I..."

The doorbell rang, and she scurried off, fluttering like a butterfly.  _Crap!_ Who could she tell her about? Who would be believable? Could she introduce one of the girls from work as her girlfriend? Would anyone fall for it? The truth seemed inevitable, until she opened the door and her answer fell before her eyes, in a pair of big boots and an oversize t-shirt.

"Horuss." She announced, "I'm dating Horuss." His eyes flew open like he'd been hit in the face with a frying pan, and she grabbed his hand hurriedly. " _I'm so sorry, I'll explain later,"_ She whispered in his ear, standing on her tiptoes.

"HORUSS?!" Nepeta sort of shrieked. Meulin said nothing, just smirked smugly while her forehead beaded with nervous sweat.  _Please let this work_.

"Um...Equius...is waiting for you...in the car?" His voice cracked at the end. Poor dear was a deer in the headlights, bewildered and maybe a little frightened. Nepeta gaped at them, and walked very slowly out of the door, still staring at them as she went. The second the door closed Meulin burst, practically sobbing.

"Please please don't ask why, but can you pretend to be my boyfriend?" She pleaded, clasping his hand in hers. "Nepeta thinks I have a secret fling, and you'd be a perfect answer, and she  _can't_ know what I'm really doing. Please, please will you? We're already friends, right? So it'll be totally believable! I'm begging you, Horuss, it would be the biggest favor anyone's ever done for me-"

He cut off her rambling with a single word. "Okay." He mumbled. "I can do that." He nodded, as if he was agreeing with himself. "Yes, okay. Alright."

Meulin was so grateful she kissed him, full on the mouth.

* * *

"Look at that star!" Latula said cheerfully, pointing upwards. She and Kankri lay on a blanket, out in her backyard, looking at the darkened sky. A giant bowl of popcorn sat in the thick grass next to them, and Kankri reached for a handful. For once, he was very quiet, not nervous really, but not entirely calm. Her warmth was a soft presence against his side, and her knee was pressed to his thigh.

Was this what it was supposed to be like? A relaxing calm, but a quick pounding in your chest too? He turned his head slightly, his nose brushing against her neck. They were friends. He could do that. But he knew what it meant to him, and the tip of his nose touching her neck sent electricity down his spine. Like the world was stopped. Like he didn't need to breathe to live. Like the universe was giving him a sign that this was the person for him.

"It's a very nice star," He murmured into her neck, and she shivered. He remembered when they were little, and she always boasted that she was taller. Until he hit puberty, that is, albeit late, and then she relished that she could kick his ass in other attributes. It felt like back then, when she and her extra two inches led the way, and he followed with starry eyes. Kankri knew he'd follow her anywhere. Even when she texted him at midnight asking if he wanted to look at stars with her.

The only stars he cared about were the ones he saw inside her eyes. Such a deep, rich teal, he wanted to paint words with that color, endless paragraphs about all the things that made her amazing, and not like anyone else. She was a special girl, a girl books and plays should be written about, a girl who should be showered in affection from the very best of the world, and part of the reason she deserved all of that was that she was okay with just a handful of people. Latula was an  _angel_ , the most beautiful creature to grace the earth. Kankri couldn't help putting her on a pedestal and trailing in her wake. He knew deep in his soul that he wouldn't let himself act like he mattered to her. He didn't, truly. But if he could be by her side and watch over her while she cried over people like Mituna, and could participate in the fun as she conquered the world, that was okay.

"What's up with you?" She asked, turning over playfully to face him. Their faces were a hummingbird's wing apart, and his eyes widened.

"I'm...thinking?" It came out like a question.

"About what?" Her response was fast, a lightning bolt of slight sass. Always so sassy. Like she had to prove that she wouldn't be ruffled by anything, wouldn't take any grief from anybody either. He knew she had before.

His mouth opened, as if to form a word, but no sound came out. His throat constricted in on itself, and no syllables were spoken, nothing was said, only a puff of air, the click of his mouth moving. He couldn't be honest, could he? But she'd know if he lied to her. She always knew. Maybe he was obvious, maybe she was just a good guesser, who could tell.

"C'mon, tell me. Please?" She fluttered her teal eyes, and he huffed in indignation. Latula always pulled that trick out. "I won't judge or anything, you don't have to worry about that."

After so many years of friendship, they knew each other so well...A duo that worked so well together that no one questioned seeing both of them together. They got more questioning stares when one was seen without the other. Honestly, when she was dating Mituna, he felt abandoned. Everywhere he went, he was followed with "-Latula's best friend-", "-Where's she then?", "Probably with her boyfriend". They were the 'goals' of every person there and he was  _jealous_ , so jealous.  _He_ was the one listening to her talk about him until two in the morning, the one who (horribly) played Tony Hawk video games with her when she was mad at him, the one who was  _there_ for her. But Mituna was the one who got to kiss her.

"I was thinking about you." He said quietly, looking in the hollow of her neck. His lips would fit perfectly there, he noted. Too bad her neck wasn't somewhere he could explore.

"What about?" She whispered, eyes on his downcast ones. If he looked up at her, he'd lose his nerve.

"Just...you. When we were children. When you were dating...people. Your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Yes." The words were barely audible. It was the closest he could get to what he meant. How ironic that for all the words he spoke, he couldn't make the ones he wanted to be spoken.

"Kankri..." She said softly. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

No words. He nodded slightly, and gulped hard. Those comical gulps that made a sound effect all their own in cartoons always seemed so overdramatic to him, at least till now.

Latula leaned a little forward, touching her nose with his. "I  _am_ a pretty good guesser when it comes to you."

"What do you think I'm trying to imply?" He mumbled shyly. Her nose was pointy.

She giggled, then pressed her lips to his.

* * *

"This means war!" Terezi screeched, a wicked glint in her eyes. A yellow balloon was clutched in her left hand, a blue one in her right. Karkat was going  _down._

"War implies both sides have an equal chance of winning," Karkat taunted, quoting X-men in hopes that it would sound deadly from him. It didn't. He hid behind the fake climbing rock in the park, guarding his large pile of red balloons. (He only ever used the red ones).

"Battle is inevitable. We fight to the death." She announced dramatically, before letting out a warrior cry, terrifying all the children in the park, and running toward her target. He made a strangled sound before desperately trying to pelt his girlfriend with water balloons, but she dodged like crazy, and his fate loomed before his eyes.

He scurried for the other end of the park, trying to carry as many of his slippery weapons with him as he could, but a few were dropped, and of course, he slipped and dropped more, which only made him slip more. He tried to throw a few, and cheered triumphantly when a single balloon smacked her in the shoulder, making her aim fly off by a few. Unfortunately, she snapped back, and three balloons made acquaintances with his back. He flew forward, and used his body as a shield for his precious weapons. Revenge would be sweet.

"Man...down.." He coughed, and Terezi gasped, rushing to him. If she had been too brutal in her attack strategy and had to watch romance animes with him until he felt better  _again_...

"Are you okay?" She asked, with genuine concern. Not everyone could handle the Pyrope enthusiasm. Even she couldn't sometimes.

"I'm..." he said weakly, "Going to KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS TEREZI!" He crowed, covering her in the balloons he hid under his shirt. Terezi was soaked, and stumbled back, shaking water from her eyes.

"That was low!" She yelled at him, frowning. "I was worried about your for a second, you jerkface!"

"There's no rules in war!" He yelled back. The kids at the park watched in glee at the couple screaming at each other about their water balloon fight, while their parents tried to distract their offspring in horror.

"There's no rules?!" She screamed, "Well,  _fine!_ " Digging her hands in her bra, she whipped out two red balloons, stolen from his secret stash, and she promptly threw them, one at his face, one at his crotch.

Terezi won this round.

After Karkat waved his white flag, they gave each other a celebratory hug, slapping their sweaty, wet bodies together, in a way only two people that loved each other could. Ew. They threw their arms around each other and began the walk back to his house, where they'd eat way too much ice cream and rock paper scissors for what tv show to watch. Of course they got a couple (hundred) stares at the wet spots all over them, especially Karkat's nether regions, but that's why they liked it.

They had each other to make fun of forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do chapters seem so long until you post them? /: Not fair. I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I hope you guys enjoy it! Honestly, I don't know where it's going anymore? "^^ But I think I'll keep writing it. Do you guys have any preferences for ships to write about in the next chapter? Please let me know! :)


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